


We're All the Same

by NikkiKaji



Series: Apex Legends: One-Shot Prompt Edition [2]
Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Family Feels, Friendship, Gen, Hybrids, Original Character(s), Original Legend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:15:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22439359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikkiKaji/pseuds/NikkiKaji
Summary: Part 2 of my "Apex Legends: One-Shot Prompt Edition" Series.Prompt: Let’s all be unique together until we realize we are all the same.
Relationships: Lifeline | Ajay Che/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Apex Legends: One-Shot Prompt Edition [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1614655
Kudos: 5





	We're All the Same

Everyone in the games had their own stories from their pasts, some more shrouded in mystery than others. Nina “Snapdragon” Kurusu was one of those legends who decided to hide their past from the others, but at the same time, was impatiently waiting for the day that someone would actually ask her about it. She knew that the others weren’t asking her out of respect for her personal space, but the weight of having to keep such a big secret hidden was killing her. 

When Nina first joined the games, the Syndicate asked no questions about the origins of her unexplainable dragon-like features, since, at the time, they were basically scavenging for any new participants to join, even if they didn’t 100% pass the games’ qualifiers. Instead, they went along with the story that Nina told them during the qualifiers:

“These wings, claws, and horns are totally  _ all _ mechanical. I designed them myself in my dad’s old workshop,” Nina explained during the interview, “He was a, uh, retired pilot, so I learned a lot of things about weight distribution and wing-spans and things like that from him. The claws are retractable by command through a chip planted on the side of my head, and the horns are just an aesthetic.”

But now, with every day that passed and every game she played alongside the other legends, Nina’s guilt began to build up more and more, forming a never ending pain in her chest. She had to tell  _ someone  _ the truth. The question was…

Who?

Honestly, that was something Nina had no business thinking about at that time, or at all. Everything was going great for her. She won a game at least twice a week, which was good in her eyes (though not as good when compared to the other legends’ stats), made a lot of friends, and felt like she finally had a place where others accepted her. 

Or at least, accepted the “her” that they knew about.

Nina looked down at her phone, leaning her head against her arm and scrolling through various posts on the FSN (Frontier Social Network), mainly about her win earlier that day alongside Ajay and Pathfinder. That game was a close call, reaching the final ring around a single building located near Thermal Station. She remembered how it was almost  _ her  _ fault her team lost the final fight, all due to a stupid mistake she was trying to hide. Ajay’s voice from those final moments rang through her head.

~~~

_ “Ya lost ya claw climbin up dat side of the cliff, didn’t cha? I toldja to just take the jump tower like we planned… Now stop ya screamin’ and let me stop the bleedin’.” _

That was the only thing Nina could hear between the roaring of the ring drawing near, the constant firing of gunshots, and the ringing in her ears as she gripped tightly at her left hand, unable to process anything that was going on. She felt a sudden yank on her left arm, which caused her eyes to immediately fly open from shock. In a few seconds, Ajay applied a tight wrap to the quick of Nina’s finger, stopping the bleeding from getting any worse. As soon as she finished the patch up, the two legends heard the sound of a door being kicked down from the other side of the room, watching as Pathfinder blocked it with all of his strength, but to no avail. In one more swift kick, Pathfinder found himself sliding across the ground as scraps of metal flew by.

The moment the door came down, two grenades were launched through the opening and landed right by their feet. In that moment, Nina’s wings sprouted from her body and wrapped themselves around her and Ajay, blocking most of the damage from the explosion. Pathfinder was downed in almost an instant.

“Use DOC’s shield wall to block any incoming damage. I’ll play around you guys. If I go down, you’ll have to finish them!” Nina shouted over all of the noise. Ajay hesitated at first, but then nodded in response, sliding over to pathfinder and standing behind him, but not reviving him. In the meantime, Nina reloaded her guns went to the other side, waiting.

Another grenade came flying in.

Ajay quickly began reviving Pathfinder, DOC swiftly blocking the damage from the grenade with her shield wall. When the buzzing sounds of the shield went off, the two remaining enemy legends, Octane and Bloodhound, came rushing into the building and towards the combat medic. She quickly stopped reviving Pathfinder and pulled out her gun, firing a round into Bloodhound’s chest before being shot with a peacekeeper in response. Octane let out an obnoxious laugh.

“Sorry, mi amor, but we had the upper hand this time,” he said, pulling out his wingman and aiming it at Ajay’s forehead. The combat medic squeezed her eyes shut, but as soon as she heard the trigger being pulled, the blow from a mastiff shotgun also filled her left ear, followed by a two painful groans. She reopened her eyes again, seeing two death boxes sitting in front of her, and the voice of the announcer in the distance.

“You are our Apex Champions!”

Pathfinder immediately raised his arms upwards and let out a triumphant, “Woohoo!” before letting them fall back down to his sides, letting out a tired sigh, “I did not like being downed for that long. Not a very good feeling…”

“Hey, you helped us win. If it weren’t for you, we woulda both been destroyed by dat nasty explosion there atda end,” Ajay commented, giving Pathfinder a few reassuring pats on his shoulder. She looked over at Nina, who she hadn’t even noticed had passed out before she could see that they’d won. Before to combat medic could reach her, the three of them were teleported back to the dropship.

~~~

Nina snapped back to reality when she heard knocking on her room door. She put down her phone, quickly fixed her long black hair, and peeped out a quick, “Come in!”

The door slid open automatically, Ajay stepping inside and allowing it to close behind her. Nina turned around to look at the other female, whose eyes were roaming the various posters and figurines around them room.

“Nice place ya got here. Not quite what’a was expectin’, but it’s real chill,” Ajay complimented, walking over to Nina’s TV stand and picking up a Squirtle plushie laying on its side. She squeezed the plushie a few times, getting some high pitched squeaks out of it and chuckling. She then set it back down correctly, “The post-match interview is in an hour, but I wanted to check up on ya before then. How’s the claw?”

Ajay walked over and sat in the chair next to Nina, gently grabbing her hand and inspecting in when the other girl held it out. The index finger where the claw was missing had finally stopped bleeding, but was still throbbing and sensitive to touch.

“It musta been hell getting these things attached to ya. I’m sure we can getta new claw manufacture for ya when the tissue finally heals,” Ajay said. She gave Nina a soft, reassuring smile, still holding her hand. The winged diva looked away, a look of concern spreading over her face. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“They aren’t mechanical.”

Several seconds of silence passed, neither of them moving an inch since those three words left Nina’s mouth. She slowly turned her face towards Ajay, whose eyes were still staring at her hand, as if she was trying to process what she’d said.

“Whaddya mean they aren’t mechanic? You saidja built them yaself-”

“That was a lie…” Nina admitted, which was followed by a sigh, “I-I just...wanted to fit in with everyone. If I told you guys or the Syndicate I was some freak experiment from a DNA engineering lab, I could’ve missed my chance of finally being around people that care about who I really am, and not my fucked up half-human, half-flyer genetics.”

Ajay finally let go of Nina’s hand and wrapped her arm around the younger girls’ shoulders, pulling her close and allowed her to lay her head on her own shoulder. 

“Now ya listen here, we all got somethin’ from our past that may seem bizarre to us personally. And even though we all go out here everyday tryin’ to murder each other, when we all get back on this dropship, we’re a family,” the combat medic explained. Nina stayed silent, so she continued, “Eventually, ol’ Park even opened up to us a bit- told us that he hacked ‘is way into the games, which wasn’t much’a surprise. Besides, it ain’t like we never seen some flyers before. Everyone thought they were cool when they heardja made em’, imagine what they’ll think when they hear you’re an actual hybrid! Either way, they’re still gonna love ya and treatcha like family, ok?”

Nina held back the tears she oh so badly wanted to let fall, and simply nodded her head in response. She looked up at Ajay’s face, then reluctantly pulled herself away from the other girl’s body.

“So, you wanna play some video games before the interview? I got one I think you’ll really like!” Nina cheered. She stood up from her chair and plopped onto a beanbag on her floor, switching on her TV. Ajay took the beanbag next to her, the winged diva hanging her two small controllers: one pink and the other baby blue. She watched in excitement as the word “Pok é mon” flashed on the screen.


End file.
